Obama: ‘Human Race Would Evaporate’ If Men Had To Get Pregnant

In Boston today, President Obama joked that the human race would stop populating if men were the ones who had to get pregnant.

“For the men in the audience in particular, think about that. We wouldn’t even go to work if we had to carry around somebody that long,” he said, chuckling. “The human race would evaporate. We couldn’t even take it.”

Obama used his joke to call for a national policy mandating paid maternity leave, noting a study that said one-in-four working moms returned to the workforce just two weeks after giving birth.

He chided Congress for failing to pass any legislation, pointing out that the United States was the only advanced country that didn’t guarantee paid maternity leave.

“Find a way to make paid family, and paid medical leave a reality for all Americans,” he said. “That’s something we should be doing.”